7/4/08-7/6/08 Wave-Ra On the eve of my first kayak crossing and camping trip to Catalina, I thought it best to call on divine intervention to aid me on my trek and called on the Tiki God Wave-Ra to watch over us. Who's to say he wasn't at least partly responsible for our excellent adventure! It was 4:45am when I pulled up in line behind Duane Strosaker at our launch site at Cabrillo Beach and the adventure started quickly. Behind me, Steve Wilson and Bob McMurray completed our group, or did they! The gate was to be opened late to allow for LAPD to be on hand to check for contraband on this Independence Day launch. As we waited a young man, named Peter I believe, came up and asked me where we were headed. I told him Catalina was our goal and he went on to ask me if I knew of this guy named Duane Strosaker! He'd been reading about his Catalina adventures and was planning to head there as well! We introduced he who needs no introduction and he waylaid a passerby to get a photo of himself and Duane and deigned to let us in on group shot. Not the first time I seemed to have lucked into Duane's fame! We were about to launch and it turned out that Peter and his friend had their SOTs ready to go as well. I think they were hoping to tag along with us, but I think Duane explained we were somewhat of a closed group. He told them they were welcome to follow us, but they'd be on their own. We made a quick launch and as we slipped into the misty horizon, I'm afraid we saw Peter's group having a bit of trouble in the surf and we hoped them well on their journey This was my first paddle in a loaded kayak and despite my nerves, my stomach was nice enough to give me the morning off!. Heading out through the waves through what was at best a three footer, it was interesting how the bow plowed right through. Once underway my newbie overloaded boat didn't really seem too hard to keep up to speed and I was glad to be under way. Conditions were great and Duane's crossing procedures seemed to make the crossing go quickly and at about an hour out from Catalina, Duane let me lead the group on in to Lava Rock Beach. We had some boat campers at the site who were taking up most of the beach, but they gladly rearranged things to give us some room above the tide line. Free spirit that I am, I chose a small, secluded patch of sand for my tent away from the others. Heck, I borrowed the tent, who cares about high tide lines! We had landed at 12:15 for a 5 hour and 45 minute crossing and we were in for the night, so we hunkered in by the slight shade of the cliff to rest an eat and chat about the crossing. With the giant cliffs, it seemed natural to think we'd get some shade, but the sun gave us no quarter, so we searched for shade where we could find it and alternately resorted to the cool ocean water for the ultimate cool down. We were happy for the sunset and the chance to sit through the cool evening. Our boating neighbors left for some evening fishing, but expressed concern before they left about my tent site being below the waterline, but Duane felt I was safe and besides, it wasn't his tent either! We all slept well, although I woke to the neighbors shooting off a couple Aerial fireworks from their boat and notice the larger waves crashing on the sand and the water making its way up to my tent. On top of a six inch air mattress, I was safe, but the sand all around my tent was wet in the morning and I was glad I'd tied my kayak up! In the morning, we all launched separately for the paddle to Twin Harbors carrying our used WagBags on our poop decks. I took my time enjoying my first exposure to the Catalina coastline. The crystal waters clearly showed the alternate world beneath my kayak and there were plenty of rocks to play around and scrape more gelcoat off my hull. Three of us met up inside a cave where Steve had stopped to rest in the shade and we all traversed a narrow tunnel out, glad for the calm sea state. We met up with Duane and continued on to town.<p> A nice surprise at Two Harbors was to be greeted at the cantina by Dave Houser. He supped with us an treated us to a tour of his hoity toity Yacht club where if your blood is the right shade of aquamarine, after about a ten year wait list you can join and stay in a nifty little room in the converted civil war barracks house. He invited us to a evening rib-roast, but it was too late for us so we hung out for a while enjoying the local bikini clad fauna. Trying to conserve my energy for the next day's crossing, I paddled home alone while the other three hugged the coast looking for more excitement. For our final night, we enjoyed a much cooler evening. The daemon rum nearly had Steve washed up on a rocky shoal, but he managed to survive long enough to down most of three MREs. Apparently alcohol makes them very tasty! Most enjoyed a second dinner when our neighbors offered us some of their dinner and Duane said he really enjoyed the ribs and something that was either a potato or corn on the cob! Yeah, alcohol will do that to you! We had a beautiful sunset and another fire works show from Two Harbors way. Wave-Ra came to my assistance once more by weakening Duane's resolve for a 6am launch, making him cave in to the request for an extra hour. Once again I wondered about the crossing and how my two night bivouac would affect my paddling. But by my second hour on the water, things seemed fine and we settled into a nice pace. We stopped for a while to watch some dolphins and birds feasting on something in the water, but all we could see were floating fish scales. While I was in the lead, I spotted a shark that seemed to be following us, that Duane guessed was probably a 6 foot Blue shark. No man eater, but my first shark sighting at sea. We looked for blue whales, but despite the excellent conditions, came up empty. We paddled home under a dense cloud cover over a dead calm sea and hit the beach at Cabrillo in 5 hours and 15 minutes. It was a great trip and full of firsts for me. The conditions we enjoyed and the times we crossed in seemed great for a first timer. Some may chalk it up to luck, but it seems no coincidence that everywhere I went, Wave-Ra was leading on my bow. I think we owe him an offering, but sacrificial virgins aren't easy to come by these days! Mark Sanders http://www.sandmarks.net/WaveRa.html # *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
Hey Mark, Welcome to the small club of people who have crossed to any of the Channel Islands by kayak. Catalina is an awesome trip for your first crossing. Way to go. Steve Holtzman __________ Information from ESET Smart Security, version of virus signature database 3250 (20080708) __________ The message was checked by ESET Smart Security. http://www.eset.com *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
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